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What does the useExisting key do?

The useExisting key tells Angular:

"Do not create a new service, use the existing instance of another one."


Example:

ts
providers: [ { provide: AuthService, useClass: AuthService }, { provide: LoginService, useExisting: AuthService } ]

Now, if something requests LoginService, Angular returns the same object as AuthService.


When this is needed:

  • when two different tokens must point to the same service;
  • to avoid duplicating instances or causing conflicts;
  • to share the same state under different names.

Summary: useExisting is a way to tell Angular: "use the dependency that already exists instead of creating a new one."

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